Off-duty MTA officer shoots 2 youths in east-side incident

An off-duty Maryland Transit Administration police officer shot two juveniles yesterday morning after one pointed a gun at him in East Baltimore, according to police.

The officer, an 11-year veteran of the force, was not injured in the incident. He is 47 years old, according to an MTA spokeswoman, but neither police nor the MTA officials named him.

The officer, who was not in uniform, had just returned from a trip to a store about 3 a.m. and was smoking in front of his home in the 1600 block of N. Broadway when a green van drove by, said Agent Donny Moses, a Baltimore police spokesman.

The van backed up to where the officer was standing, and two juveniles got out -- one from the front passenger door and another from the rear sliding door. The juvenile who exited from the rear was wearing an orange scarf or bandanna around his face and had a silver handgun, Moses said.

The officer told police that the juvenile cocked the gun and, fearing for his safety, the officer drew his weapon and fired several shots. The two juveniles got back into the van where a third was waiting, and they sped away, Moses said.

Police found the van in the 1600 block of Spring St., and all three suspects were outside the vehicle, Moses said. One had been shot in the thigh and buttock; the other was hit in the foot, Moses said. The two wounded juveniles were taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries and the third was taken to police headquarters.

Police discovered that the van had been stolen Thursday from the Hillen Road area, Moses said. Police said they are not releasing the names of the juveniles because they have not yet been charged.